Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-10-07

600 ~ ollc. etec. And the. same thing
H. ~ On IN other styles Of merchandise. and
n va. Consequences is that all along the busi-
oS Ses s.ee.s OF all our cities there are Nor
struegle to keep their heads ahona . '1o.nn
me Cunarders run down the Nauf" "n..i'
una nshing smacks. This Is noth;no
against the man who has the bio store fas
every man has as large a store and as oro :
10y: business as he can manage. TO feel
right and do right under all this nrassnr nv,
requires martyr grace, requires divine amne
port, REQUIRES celestial re-enforcara,t
Yet there are tens Of thousands ~ aunh
men getting splendidly through. Thew 900
oehets gong up and themselves eoino
GOWN. Dus they keep their patience, and
snelr courage. and their Christian consia.
tency, and after while their turn Of suc.
cess *ill come. The owners Of the bic
, uasss: WY oie and their boys will get
p posse: - OF the business, and with a
cissf ~ 1nelr mouth, and full to the chin
with the best liquor, and behind pair Of
spanking bays they will pass eyerv thine ~
on the turnpike road to temporal and eternal
perdition. Then the business will break
up, and the smaller dealers will have fa;,
opportunity. Or the spirit of contentment
and right feeling will take possession Of
the large firm. as recently in the case of A,
A. Low Il Co., and the firm will saw; eve
have enough money for all our needs and
tho needs Of our children: now let us dis.
solve business and make way for othe,
men IN the same line" Instead of BEING
startled at solitary instance of mapnanim.
Ivy, rs III the case just mentioned, it viii
become common thing. know of score,
OF great business houses that have hae
their opportunity of vast accumulation
ana who ought to quit. But perhaps fol
an the days of this generation the struggle
OF small houses to keep alive under the
overshadowing pressure of great houses
WILL continue; therefore, taking things as
they are. you will be wise to preserve you1
| equilibrium, and your honesty, and your
faith, and throw over all the counters, and
! shelves, and barrels, and hogsheads, and
cotton bales, and rice casks, the measuring
line OF divine right. "And the Lord said
unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And
said, plumb line"
| In the same way we need to measure our
theologies. All sorts of religions are put
ting forth their pretensons. Some have n
splrltuallstic religion, and their chief work
Is with ghosts, and others religion of
pojltlcal economy, proposing to put an end
10 human misery by new style Of taxation,
and there is a humanitarian religion that
looks after the body of men and let's the
soul look after itself, and there is legis-
latlve religion that proposes to rectify all
wrongs by enactment of better laws, and
there is an aesthetic religion that by rules
OF exquisite taste would lift the heart out
of its deformities, and religions of all sorts,
religions by the peck, religions by the
square foot, and religions by the ton-all
Of them devices of the devil that would
take the heart away from the only religion
that will ever effect anything for the hui
man race, and that is the straight up and
down religion written in the book, which
begins with Genesis and ends with Reve-
lation, the religion of the skies, the old
religion, the God given religion, the ever
lasting religion, which says: Glove God
above all and your neighbor as yourself. {"
All religions but this one begin at the
wrong end and in the wrong place. The
Bible religion demands that we first get
right with God. 1t begins at the top and
measures down, while the other religions
begin at the bottom and try to measure up.
They stand at the foot of the wall up TO
their knees in the mud of human theory
and speculation, and have plummet and
string tied fast to it. And they throw the
plummet this way, and break head there,
and throw the plumnet another way and
break head there, and then they throw it
up, and it comes down upon their own
pate. Fools! Why will you stand at the
foot of the wall measuring up when you
ought to stand at the top measuring down?
few days ago l was in the country, thirsty
after long walk. AND I came in, and my
child was blowing soap bubbles, and they
rolled out of the cup, blue, and gold, and
green, and sparkling, and beautiful, and
orbicular, and in SC small space l never
90 NOR c,,lor1nr P,1f cIa
blew once too often and all the glory van
ished into suds. Then turned and took
glass of plain water and was refreshed.
And SO far as soul thirst is concerned, I
put against all the glowing, glittering soap
bubbles of worldly reform and human
speculation one draught from the fountain
from under the throne of God, clear as
crystal. Glory to God fol the religion that
drops from above. not coming up from
beneath! "And the Lord said unto me,
Amos, what seest thou? and I said, A
plumb line"
I want you to notice this fact, that when
a man gives up the straight up-and-down
religion in the Bible for any new tangled
religion, it is generally to suit his sins.
You first hear Of his change of religion,
and then you hear of some swindle he has
practiced in Colorado mining stock, tell
ing bOluo Ouo IL ut Will pun Ill 'DIV,VNV uO
can take out $780, 0G, or he has sacrificed
his chastity, or plunged into irremediahle
worldliness. His sins are SO broad he has
to broaden his religion, and he becomes as
broad as temptation, as broad as the souls
darkness, as broad as hell. They want a
religion that will allow them to keep their
sins, and then at death say to them: "Well
done, good and faithful servant" and tells
them: Cali is we'll. for there is no hell.
What q glorious Heaven they hold before
us! Come, let us go in and see it. There
is Herod and all the babes he massacred.
There is Charles Guiteau, jim Fisk, and
Robespierre, the friend Of the French
guilotne, and all the liars, thieves, house
burners, garroter, pickpockets, and llber-
tines, of all the centuries. They have all
got crowns, and thrones, and harps. and
scepters, and when they chant they sing:
Thanksgiving, and honor, and glory, and
power to the broad religion that let us all
into Heaven without repentance and faith
in those disgraceful dogmas OF ecclesiast-
ical old fogyism."
My text gives me grand opportunity OF
saving q useful word to all young men who
are now forming habits for life time. OF
what use to stonemason or a bllcklaN@r
is a plumb line? Why not build Il wall b.
the unaided eye or hand? Because they
are insufficient, because if there be 4 de
Election in the wall it cannot further Oh be
.,.,a.,,1 J,aoorca nv fhe law of ornVitN-